How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 784 - 318: Low Profile and Forbearance (6K, Debt Repayment 3/2)

Even though he only gained 0.3 seconds over two laps, Qin Miao still felt there were plenty of opportunities in this race.

Moreover, Qin Miao sensed that Hamilton's pace was faster than his. The reason he gained 0.3 seconds over two laps was because Hamilton was being blocked by Verstappen in front, and after catching Verstappen's dirty air, Hamilton's speed couldn't pick up.

So Qin Miao knew that if he wanted to capitalize on any openings left when Hamilton and Verstappen were tangled up with each other, he needed to catch up to Hamilton's DRS zone before Hamilton started his attack on Verstappen.

Thus, starting from lap 22, Qin Miao adjusted his fuel mode to rich mix.

Qin Miao had some experience in fuel-saving techniques, but the amount of fuel he carried was always standard, so after several races, there was often enough fuel left in Qin Miao's car tank to run seven to eight more laps on the track.

But the team agreed to carry this much fuel because they worried fuel might run out halfway through the race, and before the race started, the FIA had basic weight requirements for the car.

With less fuel, the car might not meet weight requirements, so the team considered all factors and, with Qin Miao's input, decided to bring more fuel.

This was one of the main reasons Qin Miao's overtaking ability was much better than other drivers.

So now, Qin Miao was effectively pursuing Hamilton and Verstappen ahead with a qualifying lap attitude.

However, just as Qin Miao was about to go all out, a virtual safety car suddenly appeared on the track.

Seeing the virtual safety car, Qin Miao was secretly pleased because the virtual safety car effectively reduced the time gap between him and Hamilton ahead.

As the speed slowed down, Qin Miao naturally asked his team what happened.

According to the team, there had been a collision between Tsunoda and Stroll at the back.

Tsunoda's car had its entire front wing knocked off, leaving a lot of debris on the track, with the front wing remaining on the track as well.

So the stewards deployed the virtual safety car.

Thus, after running just a few laps, Qin Miao happily returned right behind Hamilton.

Tsunoda had saved Qin Miao several laps of chasing time. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

After a streak of bad luck since the race started, Qin Miao finally caught a little break.

What Qin Miao needed to do next was simple: just quietly wait for Hamilton to make a move on Verstappen, at which point he would have the opportunity to pick up the spoils.

Qin Miao wasn't someone who liked to take advantage opportunistically, but under the circumstances presented, he wouldn't pass up or miss such a chance.

Lap 24, the virtual safety car ended.

After a smooth start, Qin Miao wasn't distanced by Hamilton, but using hard tires, Qin Miao wasn't planning to attack Hamilton yet. He just kept his position 1.5 seconds behind Hamilton and charged his car's battery.

Due to Qin Miao's extraordinary tire conservation skills, while following Hamilton, he didn't conserve tires or fuel; the only conservative act was charging the ERS battery.

Qin Miao knew Hamilton was faster than Verstappen, especially with one on medium tires and the other on hard tires, so Hamilton would definitely attack Verstappen.

Moreover, Qin Miao thought that the odds of Hamilton succeeding in his first attempt of attacking Verstappen were quite low.

This wasn't Qin Miao belittling Hamilton's attacking ability, as Qin Miao even felt Hamilton's attacking ability was only a tiny bit inferior to his own.

It was mainly because Qin Miao knew that with Verstappen's personality, there was no way he would defend against Hamilton's attack in a conventional manner.

He was bound to pull some tricky moves on the track.

Under those reckless defensive moves by Verstappen, both Hamilton and Verstappen might experience some incidents, which would be the perfect moment for Qin Miao to shine.

Lap 28, Qin Miao still hadn't seen Hamilton's attack on Verstappen yet, as overtaking on this track wasn't particularly easy.

Even Hamilton found it challenging to reach Verstappen's DRS zone over these laps. He mostly shortened the gap to Verstappen in the second sector using the straights, but Verstappen always managed to pull away before the DRS detection point due to the medium tire advantage in corners.

So while Hamilton frequently reduced the gap to 0.4 seconds at the end of straights using slipstream, it wasn't decisive.

Lap 29, another virtual safety car was deployed from the previous lap because debris was left on the track after a collision between Vettel and Kimi.

Since this debris was quite fine and troublesome to clean up, the virtual safety car lasted until lap 33.

With 17 laps remaining to the end of the race, Qin Miao's tires were still in good condition. Although there weren't many laps left, Qin Miao remained calm and focused, with a stable emotional state.